xviii, 742 pages ; 24 cm

Heroic Imagination describes the historical period and the wide manifestation of creativity that took place between 1815 and 1848 in Europe, from Napoleon's downfall in the battle of Waterloo in 1815 to the "Restoration" that sought to bring back the old order preceding the French Revolution. While revolutions and historical events were shaping the world, the "collective consciousness" of the public began to integrate with the creative consciousness of the individual. The creative energies of artists, philosophers, poets, political and social thinkers emerged and produced some of the most revered artistic geniuses in history, such as Beethoven, Byron, Pushkin, Balzac, Stendhal, Victor Hugo, Delacroix, Goya, and Goethe.Frederic Ewen vividly depicts the "new" world of the early nineteenth century, and the assemblage of genius that produced a body of art that has become the unforgettable property of all ages

Includes bibliographical references (pages 719-736) and index

Waterloo and After -- The Anguish of Transition and Waterloo -- England: "The Sceptered Isle" and "The Dark Satanic Mills" -- France: The Furnace of World History -- Germany: The Dissevered Self -- "Skeleton of a Titanic Form": The Italy of Giacomo Leopardi and Allessandro Manzoni -- The Agony of Spain and Francisco Goya -- Russia: "The First Revolution" and Alexander Pushkin -- The Rising Tide: 1830-1848 -- France -- 1830: Paris on the Barricades -- 1830 and the Artist -- France: 1831-1848 -- Paris: Magnet and Haven -- End of an Epoch: Goethe, Weimar and the Transfiguration of Faust

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